Victory for Nigeria: Now the Stage is Set for "Nigeria Tomorrow"

History was made in Nigeria on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, when the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari emerged the winner of the 2015 presidential elections, beating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.

Also historic was the reaction of President Jonathan to the outcome of the election. The president called General Buhari to congratulate him even when the latter had not yet been officially declared winner. This act has been described by Nigerians and the international community as mature and heroic. That singular act, some security expert have asserted, has saved the country from massive bloodshed, and, perhaps, a civil war.

Credit must also be given the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attihiru Jega for his uprightness, efficiency, maturity in the face of pressure, and impartiality. Likewise, President Jonathan did great to have appointed such a man to head INEC. Jega’s leadership of the commission has transformed it in a manner never imagined by most Nigerians – especially considering the hopes dashed by the rot in the commission during the era of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Irrespective of individual preferences, the most popular candidate emerged from an electoral process which is undoubtedly the freest and fairest ever in the history of Nigeria. It is the first time in this era of democracy that the choice of who to replace a seating president has truly been made by Nigerians. This is largely a victory for the Nigerian people.

Now the stage is set for “Nigeria Tomorrow.”

…soon after he was sworn in on May 29, 2015, the newly elected president, contrary to what some had envisaged, continued major programmes initiated by the immediate past administration, namely: rail system transformation, electricity privatization and agricultural reforms.

In some cases, the president never bothered changing the names given the different projects under the programmes; and at some points made use of the “transformation” slogan which was the main slogan of the Jonathan administration. The major difference is that the current administration began to destroy the systems of corruption.

As expected, the corruption fight came with some resistance. The first major victory over corruption came when 20 CEOs in the oil and gas industry got arrested and stripped of their positions over their roles in the fuel subsidy removal scandals that have ravaged the nation’s wealth for years.

So far, the unemployment intervention scheme which would make stipends available to unemployed youths has not started. According to the Vice President, “This is because we are still collating, analysis and cleansing data. As soon as we have a reliable database, we will swing into action.”

There has been unprecedented improvement in the area of power distribution and reduction in tariff. The reduction in the tariff was initiated by the Jonathan administration and has been carried on with greater zeal by the new administration.

The “send your child to school and get paid” initiative started 3 months ago. It has since been directly responsible for getting at least 40% of children who were not in school enrolled in schools across the country.

The ‘Justice Uwais Committee’ report of electoral reforms, which was jettisoned by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is presently in the parliaments for evaluation. Once passed into law, the nation’s electoral process will definitely raise the bars of credibility for and scrutiny of intending political office holders.

In a shocking move by the president, the 2014 National Conference report got picked for possible implementation. It is currently being treated by the presidency in order to present, according to Mr President, “the most part of the report to the national assembly for deliberations.”

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